Is Prolonged Intake Of Prozac Safe?

Posted on Mon, 7 Jul 2014

Question: I have been on Prozac 20 and 40 mg. per day for over 25 years. I am afraid to quit as I don't want panic attacks ever again and am bi polar also. Is it still safe to keep taking it. I also take 0.5 Xanax up to 3 per day,usually 2 to sleep at night. I keep thinking about changing but don't like all the side effects such as weight gain that most anti-depressents cause. I am now female and 55.

Answered by Dr. Srikanth Reddy (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
25 years is a long time

Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thanks for choosing health care magic for posting your query.
I have gone through your question in detail and I can understand what you are going through.
Twenty Five years is a very long time to be on Prozac. Its a good enough time for keeping the OCD off and nowits time to get weaned of. Fluoxetine can cause weight gain as well and it is not a weight neutral antidepressant as well. Likewise even xanax can cause wieght gain.Probably you can get yourself of fluoxetine first under the cover of xanax and then get yourself of xanax gradually. It may take 2-3 months for all this procedure as fluoxetine has a long half life.
Other reason to come off fluoxetine is that , fluoxetine has a high interaction with many different drugs. With age if you require to take other cardiac, BP, blood sugar meds then the dosage adjustment will have to be made keeping in mind that you are fluoxetine.
Hope I am able to answer your concerns.
If you have any further query, I would be glad to help you.
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Wish you good health,
Kind regards
Dr. Srikanth Reddy M.D.

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar